Sustainability is the act of being supported and constantly up kept. The Earth has provided us as humans with the resources to self-support ourselves and over time due to our lifestyle and technological innovations we have began to deplete our current source of energy, fossil fuels. Because of the inventions of the 20th century like the car and the airplane, we have been able to move around the planet with incredible speed that we would never have been able to achieve with older forms of transportation but this speed comes at a price. Cars and Airplanes consume large amounts of fossil fuels and now as we begin to run out of fuel, we can no longer sustain our way of life. Much research has been made in the automobile industry but not much in the aviation industry.
Cars are being converted to electric and hydrogen fuel cell energy sources but aircraft cannot work on the same principle. Propeller aircraft simply cannot create enough power using alternative power sources and jet aircraft have to create thrust in the form of expanding gases to propel themselves through the air. For propeller aircraft, organizations such as the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation are looking for ways to make aircraft more efficient until we can figure out an alternative power supply. As for jet aircraft, they have to burn some sort of fuel in order to obtain the high speeds they produce. Airbus Corporation conducted a test on one of their new A380 jets that used Gas to Liquid technology to fuel the airplane. The US Air Force also conducted a similar test on a B-52 bomber. These tests were successes and more research is being conducted in these fields however, Gas to Liquids still uses a fossil fuel, which means these planes are also putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and still depletes a natural resource.
If we are to sustain our way of life, global trade, and create less of an impact on the environment, we need to find a new way to propel our aircraft. We need a method that will create lots of power that is inexpensive and clean. Without our aircraft, the world cannot operate in a fast pace, economies will become stagnant, and humans will regress. Necessity is said to be the mother of invention and once again, it is starting to help us create the next generation of aerospace technologies.
http://cafefoundation.prg/v2/main_home.php
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123027415
Paul Easterbrooks
Paul,
ReplyDeleteYou've presented an interesting look at energy consumption by focusing on aircraft. We certainly think mainly about cars so this was a different perspective. Nice job.
I did have problems with the first hyperlink (it wouldn't open) and the 3rd article was from 2006--you need to look for the most up-to-date articles you can; the environmental issues change constantly.